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The organized among us looked forward to the September long weekend. It was an extra day off to change out the closets.

We hauled the whites and pastels and linens and strappy sandals over to their winter resting spot and replaced them with navy, brown or plaid items, leather vests and sensible footwear.

The only problem is, if I’ve pulled out the suede riding boots and dark skinny jeans and orange turtleneck, I can’t really order a mojito. It would be akin to asking for a Caesar at the swim-up bar in Cuba.

Though it was only a few weeks ago I was visiting outdoor patios, sipping spritzes, sangria and vodka lemonades, I’m suddenly so over those. And it’s not just because they clash with my fall wardrobe.

On these shorter and suddenly brisker evenings, I crave a cocktail that’s darker in colour and bolder in flavour. Served up in a rocks glass, preferably (looks better paired with the kick-ass boots). Local bartenders are on the same page.

As the weather shifts and stone fruit, apples and pears hit the farmers’ markets, mixologists switch up their menus accordingly.

"As a restaurant, you have to move with that. I think it’s important to definitely change with the seasons," says Colin Tait, a bartender at Hotel Arts’ Raw Bar, which will be launching its fall-winter cocktail menu in early October.

"It’s looking at what kind of produce is available."

It’s also paying attention to drinks that might take away the chill from a fall evening, like a Manhattan, a nice brandy punch or an As Thyme Goes By (see recipe), a warming number Tait whipped up using a single malt from his native Edinburgh shaken with an orange shrubb, Benedictine and chocolate bitters, and topped with ginger beer.

I taste a kick of ginger, a hint of orange and a pleasantly heavy whiskey flavour. This drink is also heavy on booze, but don’t let that scare you. It’s a slow sipper.

Another trick for transitioning drinks from summer to fall is to get creative with spices.

"Maybe you make your sugar infusions with cinnamon or nutmeg," says George Kaplun of the Banff Park Lodge. He’s also been playing around with a saffron-infused simple syrup he plans to incorporate into a martini.

And just as we gravitate in September toward clothes in fall colours, bartenders choose amber-hued spirits for mixing; think rum, spiced rum, bourbon and whiskey.

Christina Mah of Barmetrix mixed Maker’s Mark bourbon with vermouth, grilled apple, rhubarb preserve and bitters to create the Bourbon Black Betty (see recipe), a cocktail that looks like autumn in a glass. Rhubarb is a spring vegetable; however, its fall colour and ability to blend with apples and bourbon make it an obvious choice for Mah’s creation. The old-fashioned glass, incidentally, would look great against corduroy.

As Thyme Goes By

2 oz The Spice Tree single malt Scotch whiskey

3/4 oz Clement Creole Shrubb

1/2 oz Benedictine liqueur

1/3 oz simple syrup

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

3 dashes Bittermans Xocolatl Mole bitters ginger beer to taste

Add all ingredients except ginger beer into a Boston shaker. Dry shake, then add ice and give a hard shake for 15 seconds. Double strain into an ice-filled Collins glass and top with ginger beer to taste.

Garnish with a sprig of thyme (optional).

— Recipe courtesy Colin Tait, Raw Bar

Bourbon Black Betty

3 grilled apple slices

1 heaping bar spoon of rhubarb preserve

1 1/2 oz Maker’s Mark bourbon

1/2 oz Cinzano Rosso vermouth

3 dashes Angostura bitters

Muddle grilled apple and the rhubarb preserve in the base of a mixing glass; add the rest of the ingredients, shake vigorously, then double strain into a chilled old fashioned glass.

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